Carrie Graham, Ph.D.

Research Professor
Co-Director of the Medicare Policy Initiative

Carrie Graham, Ph.D. is a Research Professor and the Co-Director of MPI, where she oversees a portfolio on beneficiary choice, coverage, and the beneficiary experience in Medicare Advantage. Previously, she was the Director of Aging and Disability Policy at the Center for Health Care Strategies. She also holds an Adjunct Professor appointment at the University of California, San Francisco Institute for Health and Aging.

Dr. Graham has been working in the field of aging research, health policy, and evaluation research for over 25 years, including evaluating California’s Dual Financial Alignment Initiative and other efforts to expand managed care delivery systems for older adults and people with disabilities. From 2018–2019 she worked as a Health and Aging Policy Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means on Medicare oversight and legislation for post-acute care, surprise billing, and price negotiations for Part D prescription drugs. In 2020, she acted as a consultant to California in the development of the state’s Master Plan for Aging, and subsequently provided technical assistance for over 20 states developing their own multi-sector aging plans.

Dr. Graham holds a doctorate in Medical Sociology from UCSF and a master’s degree in Gerontological Studies from the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego in Sociology and African Studies.

MPI Publications

• Explainer: Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs) Explained
• Explainer: Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans (C-SNPs) Explained
• Medicare Advantage Enrollees Weigh In: Four Recommendations to Improve Supplemental Benefits
• Medicare Advantage Enrollees Weigh In: Five Recommendations to Improve Open Enrollment
• Leveling the Playing Field: Why Smaller Medicare Advantage Plans Are Calling for Payment Reform
• CMS Takes Aim at Upcoding: Ending “Unlinked” Chart Reviews in Medicare Advantage
• An Uneven Playing Field: Why Smaller Plans Are Calling for Stronger Guardrails on Medicare Advantage Marketing
• Is the Sky Falling in Medicare Advantage? 
• Fact Sheet: Artificial Intelligence in Medicare Advantage—Opportunities and Risks
• Fact Sheet: Improving Beneficiaries’ Ability to Make Informed Medicare Choices
• Medicare Advantage Whistleblower Lawsuit Alleges Insurer and Broker Misconduct
• The Trump Administration’s First Regulatory Action on Medicare Advantage Omits Some Prior Authorization Guardrails
• Privatizing Medicare: Challenges and Unanswered Questions about Default Enrollment into Medicare Advantage
• Fact Sheet: Does Medicare Advantage Save the Government Money?
• Fact Sheet: Prior Authorization in Medicare Advantage
• What to Know About CMS’s Announcement That it Plans to Terminate VBID